Strange Little Planethttp://www.strangelittleplanet.com
"Of interest and intrigue"Sun, 01 Jan 2017 04:26:05 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.1http://www.strangelittleplanet.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/PlanetEarth-5491b6ebv1_site_icon-32x32.pngStrange Little Planethttp://www.strangelittleplanet.com
323280314307My Moment with a Princess: Remembering Carrie Fisherhttp://www.strangelittleplanet.com/?p=331
http://www.strangelittleplanet.com/?p=331#respondSun, 01 Jan 2017 04:10:41 +0000http://www.strangelittleplanet.com/?p=331What a year 2016 was. I’m glad its coming to an end in a few hours. I’m at that age where we are going to see many of the idols we grew up with, depart this world. It seems like 2016 was the worst yet. Starting this past January with one of my favorite singers and musicians, David Bowie, to hopefully the last one of 2016 being announced, William Christopher, who played Father Mulcahy on one of my favorite shows, M*A*S*H.

“We seem to have reached the age where life stops giving us things and starts taking them away.” -Dean Stanforth, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

The biggest shock, especially to Star Wars fans, was this past week with the passing of Carrie Fisher, and just a day later her mother, Debbie Reynolds. The departures that are hardest to deal with, are the people you actually get to meet in person. I was lucky to meet Carrie three years ago at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo. It was just for a moment; got her autograph, and exchanged a few words with her, but was she ever a cool lady to be around. Put a smile on all those that were around her. She made her entrance with the volunteers with glitter bombs, and of course her four-legged best friend Gary who I got to meet too. I remember the person behind me had a copy of “Postcards from the Edge” to sign. I didn’t have anything so I was eagerly awaiting to see what 8x10s they had on the table. Sure enough, I picked the photo of Carrie in the famous gold bikini from Return of the Jedi. As soon as I get home after the holidays, that 8×10 is going into a frame.

I volunteer with the Expo, 2017 will be my third year. The Expo organizers also put on the Saskatoon and Edmonton shows as well. They were fortunate to get Carrie as a guest at both shows this past September. I’m glad the fans in those cities had their moment with the princess too.

My sincerest condolences to Carrie and Debbie’s family. I can’t fathom what you are going through this week. Rest in peace Carrie and Debbie.

For the last bunch of months I wasn’t too pleased with my cable provider’s services. Another price increase in August, as well as bad reception (grainy) through the cable box, and an increase in annoying pop-up ads, was the last straw. I also realized that there were maybe only three channels that I was really watching. In addition, the media has been reporting how more and more people are cutting their cable in favour of streaming services and other cheaper entertainment sources too.

I decided to join the club and cut the cord. I remembered seeing plans earlier this year in Make Magazine describing how to build a coat hanger antenna. I managed to find the plans online and decided to give it a shot. It’s cheap, it’s quick, and the reception? Surprisingly awesome! I get six channels… for FREE! All six are coming in crystal clear. Much clearer than they ever did through the cable box. I don’t watch too much TV, but the shows I do watch, like The Blacklist, The Goldbergs, Agents of SHIELD, SNL, and the new reboot of MacGyver, are on these channels. This wasn’t a build featured on an episode of MacGyver, but like I mentioned earlier, it was in Make Magazine. The channels I get are pretty much the essentials:

CBC

CTV

Global

CityTV

Omni

YesTV

On rare occasions the signal for Global disappears for brief moments of time, but its not bad. Surprising as Global is owned by Shaw, and Shaw’s HQ is located here in Calgary (*whispering* and they were also my old cable provider). I’m currently living in a basement and thought the antenna wouldn’t pick up much, but I can get 2 more channels than a store-bought antenna I picked up for a few bucks at Princess Auto. For better reception, I placed the antenna on my windowsill. The following section has links to the instructions, pics of my build, and a description of a minor modification.

The Build

All you need is:

a piece or two of wood (depending if you decide to build the stand too. I omitted the stand in my build),

some hardware,

4-6 coat hangers,

and a small 75 ohm to 300 ohm matching transformer (which you can probably find at Princess Auto, The Source, Active Electronics, or dollar stores)

The instructions (with video) containing more specific details of the materials can be found here:

The first major step is to mark your board with the appropriate hole spacing for the screws.

Attach your screws loosely – don’t crank them in all the way so you can slip the coat hanger dipoles underneath first. Remember to take sandpaper or some other abrasive and rub off the enamel coating wherever there is a contact point on the coat hangers. When everything is positioned properly, then drive the screws in.

The matching transformer with the coaxial connector is attached to the two middle screws.

Modification

Rather than cutting up two coat hangers to bend out straight and stretch along the length of the wood, I used hardware wire. Super cheap at Dollarama – I paid $1.25 if I recall. Also note that in the two places where the wire crosses over; in the original plans it would’ve been coat hangers with the enamel coating. The plans don’t specify if at these two points there is a connection or not, so I just slipped on a couple pieces of heat shrink tubing. Also, I recommend filing the sharp cut ends of the coat hangers, for safety reasons.

Notice the black heat shrink tubing in the cross section.

Conclusion

Works great, and I’m now saving about $50 a month! This build is definitely worth trying. Quick, cheap, and easy. For those of you in Calgary, you may have better luck picking up more channels if you position your antenna facing the Paskapoo slopes/Sarcee Trail area – that’s where the transmission towers are.

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http://www.strangelittleplanet.com/?feed=rss2&p=3250325Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archaeologyhttp://www.strangelittleplanet.com/?p=288
http://www.strangelittleplanet.com/?p=288#commentsWed, 11 Mar 2015 07:31:51 +0000http://www.strangelittleplanet.com/?p=288“Professor of Archaeology, expert on the occult, and how does one say it… obtainer of rare antiquities.”

Telus World of Science in Edmonton is currently hosting the exhibit Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archaeology. Originating in Montreal with the co-operation of Lucasfilm Ltd., the National Geographic Society, and Montreal’s X3 Productions; the exhibit features props from all four movies plus real artifacts. It made this huge Indiana Jones fan as “giddy as a schoolboy.”

The exhibit is divided in four main sections, one for each movie. Each section is complimented nicely with real artifacts from around the world. To enhance the experience, each guest is assigned a tablet that plays various behind-the-scenes clips, “fact and fiction” videos, and provides the audio for some short movies produced by National Geographic. There is also an interactive archaeological game that is played throughout the exhibit.

I took a number of photos – ok, a lot of photos, more than 107 – photos are ok, however, NO flash photography of the real artifacts, but the photos don’t do it justice. Exhibits like this are always great to see in person, and I highly recommend it.

On a side note, Wikipedia defines MacGuffin as: “In fiction, a MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin or maguffin) is a plot device in the form of some goal, desired object, or other motivator that the protagonist pursues…”

Galleries

Galleries are in movie release order – in the Indiana Jones timeline, Temple of Doom is actually a prequel. Click on each movie’s MacGuffin to open the galleries. For full enjoyment, click on an image, then click the fullscreen button in the controls at the bottom of each image, and click the “i” for descriptions.

1936 – Raiders of the Last Ark (1981)

“I mean that for nearly three thousand years man has been searching for the lost Ark. It’s not something to be taken lightly. No one knows its secrets. It’s like nothing you’ve ever gone after before.”

1935 – The Temple of Doom (1984)

“Fortune and glory, kid. Fortune and glory.”

1938 – The Last Crusade (1989)

“Choose wisely, for while the true Grail will bring you life, the false Grail will take it from you.”

1957 – Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

“The legends of Akator are all true. Early man could not have conceived it, much less built it. It was a city of supreme beings, with technologies and paranormal abilities.”

Budget your time. I called ahead to ask how long it would take to get through the exhibit. A representative at the science centre told me approximately two hours. As a matter of fact, if you are like me and want to take in everything and watch all the videos on the tablet, set aside four to five hours.

After Edmonton, Indiana Jones is heading to the National Geographic Museum in Washington, DC. The exhibit is in Edmonton until April 6. So get that whip cracking and get on over there if you haven’t already.

Links

As I sat down to compile this blog post, the media outlets erupted with the news that Harrison Ford was involved in a plane crash. Luckily, he made it out alive, battered and bruised, but OK. Here’s wishing a speedy recovery to the man in the hat.

]]>http://www.strangelittleplanet.com/?feed=rss2&p=2882288MacGyver: An Inspiration to the Maker Movement and a Calgary Linkhttp://www.strangelittleplanet.com/?p=252
http://www.strangelittleplanet.com/?p=252#respondSun, 14 Dec 2014 03:18:25 +0000http://www.strangelittleplanet.com/?p=252Being a youngster in the early 80s meant we didn’t get our entertainment instantly as we can over the internet these days. Our entertainment fix depended on print media like monthly magazines and comic books, movies, and TV, with TV being the closest to “instant”, offering a plethora of TV shows that kept us kids glued to the boob tube. Shows like The Dukes of Hazard, Knight Rider, Air Wolf, and two of my favourites; the A-Team and MacGyver.

Both shows dealt with solving a problem through innovative ways. In the case of MacGyver; with his wits and wisdom of physics, and without the use of guns. Equipped with his trusty Swiss Army knife, Angus MacGyver could seamlessly get out of any ordeal and defeat the bad guys. There I was, glued to the TV each week watching MacGyver’s exploits, slowly being inspired to eventually become an engineering technologist (at least, that’s what one of my backgrounds are). But watching the show, I found one thing peculiar; MacGyver occasionally wore a Calgary Flames cap during the first season. Many years later, I found out why.

MacGyver, season 1, episode 6, “Trumbo’s World”.

At the beginning of 2005, a little-known (at-the-time) publication called Make Magazine hit the market. The creation of Make Magazine was the catalyst for the formation of a new subculture known as Makers; a community of open-source do-it-yourselfers. I didn’t discover the magazine until issue 21 hit store shelves, and it has been my favourite magazine ever since. Like me, many of the makers in their young lives were inspired by TV shows like MacGyver. Coincidentally, MacGyver’s creator, Lee David Zlotoff, has written articles in Make Magazine (for instance, see Make, Volume 25, “Code 72”, page 30). Another well-known reader and contributor of the magazine named Adam Savage, debunked many of the MacGyverisms on his show Myth Busters, however a number of the MacGyverisms that Lee David Zlotoff came up with, could work given “perfect” conditions. For instance, as in the very first episode, you could seal a leaking chemical tank with a chocolate bar – theoretically, the chemical contents of the bar would work – but you’d need a whole lot more than just one bar. Typical Hollywood.

MacGyver and Make Magazine: they were made for each other. Nice Photoshop from LifeHacker.com.

In 2013, The Calgary Comic Expo announced that MacGyver himself, Richard Dean Anderson would be attending. Having become a regular attendee of the expo for the past three years, I couldn’t give up the opportunity to meet Richard. Let’s just say I was almost in a state of euphoria like MacGyver’s biggest fans, Patty and Selma on the Simpsons. When it was finally my turn to chat with Richard at his signing table, I welcomed him back to Calgary – knowing that the MacGyver crew had filmed an episode here at Heritage Park, while the show was still being filmed in Vancouver (Season 5, episode 12 “Serenity”). This was the episode where MacGyver dreamed he was in the wild west. Richard shared a story with me from filming at Heritage Park; he was on horse back and almost lost his mount because the horse had slipped on ice. He said it was one of his most memorable moments from the show’s seven season run. I then had my chance to ask him about the Calgary Flames hat he wore in season 1. Turns out, a number of the Calgary Flames players in the mid 80s (Lanny McDonald, Al MacInnis, et al.) befriended Richard and they’d play hockey together, either here in Calgary during Flames practices, or down in LA. This love of hockey made it into the show as one of MacGyver’s traits. Other parallels between MacGyver and Richard; the fondness for jeeps, the leather jacket, and love of skiing. The producers, which included Henry Winkler, liked these traits so much, they incorporated them into the script for Richard.

After the show wrapped up its seven season run, Richard went on to play Col. Jack O’Neil in the Stargate TV show (a role that was originated by Kurt Russell in the movie) but no role had the impact like MacGyver did on future makers, engineers, and technologists such as myself. So thank you Richard and the MacGyver crew for inspiring us. And yes, I do have a red Swiss Army knife that I take on my adventures. I wouldn’t leave home without it.

Meeting my childhood inspiration. Thanks for coming back to Calgary, Richard. You are welcome back anytime.

Links

]]>http://www.strangelittleplanet.com/?feed=rss2&p=2520252Chris Hadfield back in Calgary signing his new book.http://www.strangelittleplanet.com/?p=236
http://www.strangelittleplanet.com/?p=236#respondThu, 30 Oct 2014 22:57:38 +0000http://www.strangelittleplanet.com/?p=236Canada’s favorite astronaut was back in town last weekend, signing autographs for the release of his new book, “You Are Here: Around the World in 92 Minutes“, featuring his photography from the International Space Station. Also, his first book “An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth” has been re-released with a new FAQ section included. ABC (Disney) has picked up the rights of “An Astronaut’s Guide” and supposedly they want to turn it into a sitcom.

I saw Chris last year performing during the Tremendous and Curious World of Beakerhead, but didn’t realize I could’ve gotten a photo with him in the lobby of the Jack Singer concert hall after the show. I first met Chris way back after his first mission to space station MIR, at the Comox airshow. Funny thing was, when I chatted with him, we both could not remember what year it was that he was there. It had to be either ’95 or ’96. I know I was still in high school and living at my parents’ place in Port Alberni. I have a photo of Chris’s NASA jet which he flew up for the airshow. I was hoping to post that photo here but it’s still back home in Port Alberni. What’s cool about the new book is that Chris included a photo of Comox (on page 157) from the ISS, featuring the Snowbirds flying in formation during spring training at the Comox airport.

Col. Hadfield, you are the best global ambassador Canada has ever had. Keep up the good work, and thanks for signing my books.

Col. Hadfield’s books are pretty much available anywhere books are sold, Indigo, Chapters, Amazon, Costco, etc. For full schedule of event’s and book signing dates, see Col. Hadfield’s website here:

]]>http://www.strangelittleplanet.com/?feed=rss2&p=2360236Nuit Blanche Calgary – Sept 20, 2014http://www.strangelittleplanet.com/?p=230
http://www.strangelittleplanet.com/?p=230#respondWed, 22 Oct 2014 02:11:25 +0000http://www.strangelittleplanet.com/?p=230It seems as though the month of September in Calgary should be declared as Arts and Sciences month. Following on the heels of Maker Faire and Beakerhead was the 2nd bi-annual Nuit Blanche Calgary festival, or as the Nuit Blanche website describes it “a sunset-to-late night contemporary arts festival.”

For over 8 hours, the area covering Olympic Plaza, the EPCOR Centre of Performing Arts, and City Hall was filled with performance artists and arts installations – a total of 18 altogether. Looking at the pamphlet while I’m putting this blog post together, I noticed that I actually missed a bunch. The following photo gallery shows some of the highlights of the evening. Click on the thumbnails for the larger photos.

No announcement has been made yet, but since this is bi-annual, the next event should be in 2016.

Links

]]>http://www.strangelittleplanet.com/?feed=rss2&p=2300230St. Patrick’s Island Bridge Grand Opening – Oct 20, 2014.http://www.strangelittleplanet.com/?p=225
http://www.strangelittleplanet.com/?p=225#respondTue, 21 Oct 2014 02:03:37 +0000http://www.strangelittleplanet.com/?p=225After a one-year delay due to the floods in June 2013, the St. Patrick’s Island pedestrian bridge finally opened today. I was in the first group to make the first ceremonial crossing behind Mayor Nenshi. Currently the bridge links Bridgeland and East Village, but will provide an access point for St. Patrick’s Island once the new park is completed. The newly re-developed St. Patrick’s Island Park is slated for opening in June 2015.

The Calgary Comic Expo has announced their first guest. From Agents of SHIELD, Agent May herself, Ming-Na Wen!
Ming-Na will be appearing Saturday only. For more info:http://www.calgaryexpo.com/I’m a big fan of the Marvel movies and a big fan of Agents of SHIELD, haven’t missed an episode yet. Very cool that the plot of the show is happening along with the movies. Was also a big fan of ER, so would be cool to meet Ming-Na.

The big question is, when do tickets go on sale? Usually it’s the VIP tickets that sell-out right away, usually within a couple weeks. The organizers usually have more than one wave of tickets so watch their website. Mark your calendars, the first tickets go on sale Nov 1.

I’ve been going to our local Comic Expo for three years now and I have to commend the organizers for doing a great job. The first one I went to was the very first Comic Con I ever went to. And the highlight was getting to meet the entire cast of Star Trek The Next Generation. Seems like ever since that 25th anniversary reunion of the TNG cast, our expo has been picking up steam and moving up the ranks of most popular cons in North America. So, be sure to get your tickets early, as each year they are selling out earlier and earlier.

As far as the cosplay costumes go, it’s a good bet the popular ones this year will probably be Groot, Star-Lord, Winter Soldier, Falcon, and SHIELD Agents.

I wonder what epic reunion the organizers have planned for this year?

The Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo runs from April 16-19, 2015.

]]>http://www.strangelittleplanet.com/?feed=rss2&p=2200220Maintenance Time!http://www.strangelittleplanet.com/?p=209
http://www.strangelittleplanet.com/?p=209#respondThu, 09 Oct 2014 22:17:11 +0000http://www.strangelittleplanet.com/?p=209As you can see, the theme of the site has changed. The functionality of the site should be fine. I’ll just be tweaking the look of the site over the next few days. and adding a few things like Google Analytics.

I took a short hiatus to do some work on my sister’s small business website, which is a continuing work in progress. More blogging on the way here, with posts about Nuit Blanche Calgary, Railway Days at Heritage Park, and Open Doors YYC, as well as other stuff of interest and intrigue. Lots of photos I have yet to sort thru. I’m going to be attending Nerd Nite tonight at the National Music Center, which will give me more to blog about. Stay tuned.

]]>http://www.strangelittleplanet.com/?feed=rss2&p=2090209Beakerhead 2014 Day 5 – Catharsis Catapult Competitionhttp://www.strangelittleplanet.com/?p=198
http://www.strangelittleplanet.com/?p=198#respondFri, 26 Sep 2014 07:20:32 +0000http://www.strangelittleplanet.com/?p=198Upon leaving the Canadian Museum of Making, I realized there was still time to take in the grand finale of Beakerhead 2014, the Catharsis Catapult competition. The competition was held in the west field at WinSport. Here are some photographic highlights from the competition and a very short video.

This concludes the coverage of Beakerhead 2014. See you at Beakerhead 2015, from Sept 15-20, 2015!